Peace..But At What Price?

The Irish News in their Friday 21^st, edition, have printed an article written by their token Prod Roy Garland, attacking the democratic right of the Loyalist Working Class to peacefully protest against the removal of the Democratically selected National Flag of Northern Ireland,  from the City Hall in the Capital City of Northern Ireland.     In his attack Roy Garland uses the same old underhand tactic,( in reverse gear) that was used repeatedly by The Grand Old Duke of York against the Loyalist Working Class in the past.

   Every time the Grand Old Duke sensed a Working Class Loyalist rising, he would roll out the usual old “Reds under the bed” allegations to successfully falsely discredit potential Loyalist Working Class candidates.  Roy Garland by alleging that the present Loyalist Working Class rising has been infiltrated by the Looney Right Wing, is in fact using the same old dirty underhand scare tactic, that was used so successfully by the Grand old Duke to undermine and defeat the Loyalist Working Class in the past.     Recently I challenged the Editor of The Irish News, with regard to the bitter sectarian IRA propaganda, written by IRA supporter and convicted IRA terrorist Jim Guiney, which the Irish News prints nearly every week.    The Editors feeble excuse was that, they also published articles by Roy Garland as a counter balance.  My reply was that he was talking absolute rubbish, on the grounds that, to compare Jim Guiney with Roy Garland, was akin to comparing a General Purpose Machine Gun, with a water pistol.  In his article Roy Garland tells us about his old socialist working class uncle telling him that, away back in the 1960s the Unionist leaders created a monster which they couldn’t control. It would therefore appear that Roy Garland also considers the Loyalist Working Class Flag Protesters of today to be, a monster out of control.

Please allow me to put you right Roy, in 1964 I was there as a young 16 year old, fighting against the RUC, and attempting to advance up Divis Street to remove the illegal tricolour, from a republican election office in Divis Street. I had like many other Young Loyalists been incited by, but totally unaccompanied by, that Grand Old Monster who spent the following 40years condemning those he had incited and successfully dividing the Unionist People of Northern Ireland.         Just before I set off for Divis Street that night in 1964, my own socialist anti-royalist, but staunchly Loyalist working class Father, told me that I was a bloody eejit and correctly forecast the Grand Old Dukes ultimate intentions.   Today that same socialist anti-royalist but staunchly Loyalist Father, is nearly 93years old, he is connected to an oxygen supply 24 hours a day, as a result of a life time spent working in the shipyard, but despite his illness he has made it perfectly clear that, if he was able, he would be out on the frontline with  the Loyalist Working Class defenders of our democratically chosen National Standard.

Roy Garland attempts to convince us that, the Alliance party and democracy saved the day with their proposal that, the National Standard should be removed and only allowed to be flown on Royal occasions.

What a load of bloody rubbish and misinformation, the facts are that a council approved consultation resulted in nearly 1500 replies in favour of the National Flag and less than 200 against.

This is the gerrymandered type of democracy, which the Alliance party and Roy Garland are trying in vain to justify.   As for the head in the sand, peace at any price tree huggers, who suggest that a neutral flag would be the answer, I will point them in the direction of Downatrick.   For many years the flag of Saint Patrick was flown in Downpatrick as an attempt to create a shared atmosphere on Saint Patricks Day, last year with the full pre-knowledge of the council, the IRA  supporting representative on Down council headed the Saint Patricks Day parade, carrying a large Irish  republican tri-colour instead, he declared that Saint Patricks Day was their day.

I have said it before and I will say it again. Peace at any price is an unsustainable peace. No amount of appeasement was ever sufficient for Hitler and no amount of appeasement will ever satisfy the insatiably cancerous greed, of the IRA.

Charlie Freel.